Poker icon Antonio Esfandiari gave new meaning to the "P" in PCA yesterday and was disqualified from the $5,300 Main Event for relieving himself under the table.
The odd ending to Esfandiari's tournament came as a result of an equally odd $50,000 prop bet he had with friend and business mogul Bill Perkins.
Agreeing to lunge everywhere he went for a full 48 hours Esfandiari was 40 or so hours in to the challenge, immobilized with pain, and chose to discretely relieve himself in a container under the table instead of struggling to the restroom.
Extreme Breach of Poker Etiquette
When word reached the tournament director Esfandiari was immediately disqualified and his 110k stack forfeited for an extreme breach of poker etiquette.
A humbled Esfandiari alluded to the incident in a video interview and afterward tweeted that he very much regrets the incident and exercised poor judgment.
WHAT a day.Some highs,definitely some lows,but in the end my bet w @bp22 is over. A lot of lessons learned tdy. A LOT. #PerkeeGotTheBEstOfMe— Antonio Esfandiari (@MagicAntonio) January 11, 2016
@TheSportsSwede Not proud at all.Nor he or myself are proud. Quite the opposite in fact. I have apologized continuously for my poor behavior— Antonio Esfandiari (@MagicAntonio) January 11, 2016
@MezzoDana @Barry_Carter I agree. Wish I could go back and not do it. I have apologized and will continue to do so.— Antonio Esfandiari (@MagicAntonio) January 11, 2016
@KavehGu Hardly the case. I had a MASSIVE prop bet was trying to win. I have apologized and believe my actions were completely out of line.— Antonio Esfandiari (@MagicAntonio) January 11, 2016
Esfandiari will, however, be allowed back in to play other events from today forward. He also ultimately won the $50,000 prop bet by finishing the full 48 hours, the proceeds of which he's announced he'll donate to charity.
@MasterOfPoo8 @bp22 I won.— Antonio Esfandiari (@MagicAntonio) January 11, 2016
@Poker_Hack @Barry_Carter I had to forfeit my stack of 110k chips. Worth a decent amount...but allowed back to play today. Lesson Learned— Antonio Esfandiari (@MagicAntonio) January 11, 2016
Watch today's live stream from the PCA Main Event here.
Esfandiari Apologizes in Statement
Update: Esfandiari has now released a statement apologizing for his actions and vowing to make something positive come out of his lapse in judgment.
He also specified he'll donate $25,000 to the One Drop organization and $25,000 to the REG Charity. Excerpt below:
"It makes me quite sad to write this. All the things you have heard are all true. I can sit here and try to explain and justify but at the end of the day my actions were completely unacceptable. What's done is done. All I can do is learn from my mistakes and grow from them. I have apologized to anyone and everyone who may have been affected and will continue to do so.
"This happened because of a big prop bet I had with my buddy Bill Perkins that mandated I lunge everywhere for two days. I cannot explain the pain I felt in my legs. I did what I thought was the best play at the time. Looking back now I realize it was a terrible judgment call on my behalf. I am a new father now, and this is not the kind of example I want to set for my son.
"I am embarrassed of the actions I took to win that bet. On paper I won, but in life I lost. No matter how much one loves a prop bet there is a limit to how far you should go. And in this case I failed."
